BECCA PETERS is a therapist in private practice and an educator and consultant in Mindfulness and Compassion Training for public and private organizations.

Meditation has 3 key functions.

ONE:

Meditation boosts your immune system.

Think about it this way. Most of the day your body is in one of two states: Super ACTIVE, or asleep. In both of those states, the body is working hard to do what it naturally does - handle the situation at hand, and recover as much health as possible in the process. Meditation helps us spend time in conscious rest, and helps us feel better.

TWO:

Meditation dissolves your stress.

We all have stress stored in our CELLS from the moments when we learned what stress was. Our first deep sadness, our first real argument, a slew of times that we said one thing and really meant anOTHER, the disappointments big and small… those tiny and big moments get lodged in our cells as conflict, and that becomes anxiety, deep sadness, that can become all kinds of seemingly unresolvable conditions. So how does meditation clear us of THAT?

THREE:

How? You know how when you see a friend you haven’t seen in a while, and it takes time to get back in a groove with them? Then after a little awkward re-adjustment time, you both remember where you’d left off, and it feels great to be together once again…? That's essentially what happens when you meditate - but each time, you’re recalibrating and readjusting to YOURSELF. Your heart. Your mission, your vision. Your dream for your best life.

Meditation helps us be super comfortable with ourselves. So no outward circumstances can sway you, or make you feel uncomfortable. As you meditate, and your muscles dissolve both old and new tensions, you’ll come to know yourself and what you want and love with great clarity.

If you wish to know yourself, live with respect and live a full, sweet life, meditation is for you.

Definition courtesy of Elena Brower

To begin to meditate is to look into our lives with interest and kindness and discover how to be wakeful and free.